“Wands out, Harry.”
What can anyone say about Harry Potter without sounding like a pretentious weenie or a nerd? I ask you, what? The Half-Blood Prince is another intriguing chapter in the life of Harry Potter; J.K. Rowlings’ character masterfully appears straight from your mind’s eye to the silver screen for the sixth time! Yes, that’s right, the same amount of Potter tales have been made as there are feature length Star Wars films. What is more incredible is that the core cast members haven’t changed, with the exception of Michael Gambon replacing the amazing Richard Harris as Dumbledore. That must be a film first, if someone with more time on their hands wants to challenge that, go right ahead.
I should say up front that I haven’t read any of the Potter books; I enjoy films. I enjoy the Potter films tremendously, but I am not as passionately engaged in the characters as many others – so I can review the film purely for its performance. If there are any discrepancies between the films and the books, I would never know. So, having said that, let’s take a look at this latest tale.
Overall the production was amazing, it had all the things you would expect in a Potter movie, and that’s the problem. When you have a long-running franchise you have to break your formula, you have to really tear it apart if you want it to be awe-inspiring. I didn’t feel that way with Half-Blood Prince. There was some stellar acting by most of the cast members, with the exception of the underwhelming (Jessie Cave) as Lavender – her acting was on par with Ben Affleck, that wasn’t a compliment dear, but it may have been the direction you were ordered in by David Yates, only you two know for sure. The show stopper of the film would have to go to (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin) whose dark portrayal of the morbid Tom Riddle was bloody effective. I hope he doesn’t disappear into obscurity, someone sign the kid in something . . . soon.
All of the other characters were there, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint), the two stooges, Ron’s sister, and on and on. And the movie was long, I have never seen so many people get up to pee in the theater before, well, they didn’t actually pee IN the theater – but you know what I mean. The problem with ensemble casts is that it’s hard to pull back and see that you are honing in on the wrong story, you are telling us things we don’t need to know, or care to know – but then the stuff that you really want to get into gets diluted by a bunch of stupid crap that never should have made it into the film. I kept finding myself teased by the whole film, so after all the films are out I will crack open the books I guess and see what was missing in those moments.
The special effects were superb and the directors of photography deserve a lot of credit for putting this together with such aplomb. It was interesting how each scene had it’s own kind of timbre to it, like looking at a collage done by different artists yet held together by one common theme throughout.
Now, let me get to the uncomfortable aspect of this whole film, the seduction of Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) by Tom Riddle (Frank Dillane), it reminded me of the seduction of Dr. Fredericks (Gambon) by Edward Wilson (Damon) in The Good Shepherd – and since a key character in The Good Shepherd was also a lead in the Half-Blood Prince, the comparisons were blatant – there are more direct comparisons with Dumbledore and Dr.Fredericks, which all you loyal readers know about. And, just for the record, there are plateaus of seduction that have nothing to do with sensuality, so this intrigued me as Riddle reminded me of another dark disciple. Evil characters are always more interesting anyway; good guys are too predictable. Harry does veer from the path of snarky righteousness though, if only for a bit, in this film – so that was nice to see for a change.
If you love Harry Potter, you’ll love this one, if Harry Potter is just meh to you, this won’t make you sit up and go, HOLY HELL, is THIS Harry Potter? I am hoping the last book, which will be made into two films, will finally make me say – woah, I can’t believe it. The Half-Prince had some plot twists that made me nod in creative approval, and I only hope the franchise keeps raising their own bar. In short, the darker this series gets, the better it will be, for me anyway. Life is full of darkness, the light must struggle to shine through, I like my films to reflect that . . . always.
I didn't think Harry was in the movie at all except for one scene – where he accompanies Dumbledore. Sure, he was in pretty much every scene, and sure, he had his fair share of lines, but I didn't really feel his 'presence' like I had throughout the other films.
I really liked this movie a lot. A lot of the complaints I've been hearing about it is that it isn't a stand alone film. You can't watch without having seen the others but to me that can't possibly be a fault. This isn't the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th movie in the franchise IT'S THE SIXTH! Who just watches the 6th movie in a franchise and doesn't expect to be lost or not feel attached to the characters or what-have -you.
:SPOILERS:
I give this flick a 4 out of 5 for sure. They definitely could have dragged out Dumbledore's death more and had more time with Draco (he's been kinda shorthanded the whole series in my opinion).